A: Individual subscriptions are offered as a convenience to researchers, students, and other users who are not affiliated with an entity that has an active institutional subscription. If you are affiliated with an institution, check with the librarian to see if there is a subscription to the IMF eLibrary.

Q: What’s included in the individual subscription?

A: The individual subscription provides full access to everything on eLibrary.

Q: I see that prices vary depending on a user’s location. How do you determine where users reside?

A: Pricing is based on the address on record for the payment card used at the time of checkout. If your payment card was registered in a Region A country, you will be charged a Region A rate.

Q: What if I’m from one region but studying or working in another region? Which region’s rates will apply to me?

A: Pricing is automatically assessed by a computerized system based on the country where the payment method was registered. Regardless of where you are at the time you subscribe, you will be billed according to the country in which you receive your credit card bills.

Q: I am very interested in signing up for an individual subscription, however I do not have a banking card. Can I pay using my bank account number? A check or money order?

A: At present, we accept payment by debit or credit cards only (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express).

Q: I am a professor trying to purchase an individual subscription to share with my class. Can I send you my students’ email addresses?

A: Individual subscriptions are intended for the personal use of a single person. A class should request an institutional subscription instead. Depending on where you live, your class may be eligible for a free subscription. Please see the country classification page for details.

Q: I am a librarian from a small institution. We have single user subscriptions to other IMF databases. Can I add this for my library?

A: Individual subscriptions are intended for the personal use of a single person. A library should request an institutional subscription instead. Depending on where you live, your class may be eligible for a free subscription. Please see the country classification page for details.

Q: Can I access my individual subscription from multiple devices or will your system block my access on an assumption that multiple users are signing in using a single account?

A: Individual subscriptions can be accessed from multiple devices by the same person, however no more than two devices will be allowed under a single account simultaneously.

Q: Can I have a trial before I decide to subscribe? How do I know whether eLibrary has the content I want?

A: We do not offer trial for individuals, however there are several resources to help you decide whether to subscribe:

You can see what publications are available by browsing the categories and running searches on eLibrary – subscription access is only needed to see the full text.

You can run the video tutorial on the eLibrary homepage, which will give you an overview of the functionality and content available.

You can sign up for one of our free monthly webinars for an online demonstration of the functionality and content, with opportunity for questions.

A: Corrections and revisions made after publication are incorporated into the electronic editions available on the IMF eLibrary. Visit the corrections page to access detailed log files for specific publications.

Q: What is AREAER Online?

A: AREAER Online is the online database format of the Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions (AREAER). Launched in 2011, the database provides 10 years of historical information and allows searching by country or by concept. The database is included in all subscriptions that contain the Periodicals Collection.

Q: Are IMF Staff Papers included in eLibrary?

A: Yes, the archive is available in eLibrary. The last issue was published in Spring 2010. It has been replaced by IMF Economic Review, co-published and sold by Palgrave Macmillan.

Q: How do I find content in languages other than English?

A: There are limited publications in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. If a publication is in other languages, there will be a drop-down menu under the document that provides format options.

Q: How often is the eLibrary updated with new content?

A: Content is added daily.

Q:What does the lock icon mean?

A: A lock next to a content item indicates that your current subscription does not include that particular item. Contact your librarian to request access.

Q:Where can I find more information about the conversion from BPM5 to BPM6?

A: The IMF Statistics Department has published an FAQs guide to assist users.

A: Yes, you can share documents, searches, and favorites electronically with other authorized users, whether at your institution or another subscribing institution. If you share content with someone who is not at a subscribing institution, that person will be able to see the title page but not the full text of the document.

Q: Do I have to enable cookies in order for the IMF eLibrary to recognize my IP authentication?

A: Yes, to ensure that your access to the IMF eLibrary Web site through IP authentication is functional, please allow cookies from the eLibrary site. For Internet Explorer (IE) users, the privacy settings at the highest levels may prevent the IP authentication from functioning. For all browsers, private browsing that refuses cookies could interfere with your IP-based access. For further assistance, please contact us.

A: The default simple search is “All” which searches the full text and metadata (author, title, source, ISBN, abstract) in all publications in eLibrary. Use the dropdown box to switch from All to Catalog (metadata only), Title, or Author. Advanced search allows you to search by a specific field, such as title, source, or series, or combine concepts.

Q: What is the difference between search and browse?

A: When you search for a publication, the results are returned at the chapter or article level. When you browse for a publication, the results are returned at the title level--the complete book or journal, not its separate parts. You can browse by Countries, Topics, Publication series, or Authors from the tabs at the top of the home page.

Q: How can I refine or narrow my search?

A:First, browse or do a simple or advanced search to get an initial set of results. Then, you can “Search within results” to search within publications using a single word or phrase. You can also refine your search by Content Type, Countries/Region, Topics, Languages, or Date.

Q: Where will the "Starts with" box take me?

A: The "starts with" box (available from the results page after you browse) leads you to the first title that begins with the word.

See the Custom Books Guide for step-by-step instructions on creating a personal account, selecting content, adding tags, and creating a custom book.

Q:Why do I see a "sign in" link if I already have access to the eLibrary?

A: If you register and create a personal account within the eLibrary then you will be able to save content, save searches, and create alerts. These options will be accessible under "My eLibrary."

Q: Do I need to create a personal account to use the eLibrary?

A: No. You can search, view, or download documents without creating a personal account or signing in.

Q:How do I change my password for the personal account?

A: Once you have signed in, click on My eLibrary and then My Account. Enter the new password, confirm, and save.

Q: If I access content and perform searches before signing in to My eLibrary, will these be viewable once I am signed in?

A: Yes. These will show up under the My content or My searches, recently viewed. If you try to save content or searches before signing in, you will be prompted to sign in.

Q: How can I create an alert from a saved search?

A: After completing your search, hit Save. You will be prompted to save the search with a title, notes, and the option of being alerted by e-mail if there are any updates to the search results. You must be logged into your personal account in order to create alerts.

See the Custom Books Guide for step-by-step instructions on creating a personal account, selecting content, adding tags, and creating a custom book.

Q: Can I select content in languages other than English for a custom book?

A: No. Currently, only English text is available for this feature.

Q: Once a book is created, can I add more to it?

A: Yes. Click on My eLibrary, then on My content. Place a checkmark(s) next to the item(s) you want to add. Click on Add to Custom Book, and select an existing custom book from the dropdown box. Your new content will be added to that book.

Q: Can you upload and add your own content to a custom book?

A: No. Only content from the IMF eLibrary can be saved and added to a custom PDF.

Q: What is a “tag” and how is it used in My eLibrary?

A: A tag is a term (non-hierarchical) that you assign to an item to help describe and organize your selections in eLibrary.

Q: How do I edit a tag?

A: You cannot delete or modify a tag. This functionality is planned for a future release…stay tuned.

Q: How do I add or remove a tag from an item?

A: Within the My Content tab, click on the pencil (edit) icon under the Action column. This will allow you to select, deselect, or add new tags to your item.

Q: Can I edit multiple content items at once, for example, if I want to add the same, new tag to four different chapter selections?

A: No. Currently, you have to access each item and add the new tag.

Q: Once a book is created, can I add more to it?

A: Yes. Click on My eLibrary, then click on My Content. Select the items you would like to add to the custom book. Click, Add to custom book, and then select the already created custom book. You will then be able to reorder, save, and create the revised book.

Q: Do I need to download the complete file of MARC records every time, or is there a change/add/delete file?

A: Both the complete file and a change/add/delete file are available.

Q: How often do you update MARC records, and how will I know when there is an update?

A: MARC records are updated monthly and noted in the news section. If you subscribe to the news RSS on the homepage, you will be notified automatically.

Q: Do you provide usage reporting and how can I get it?

A: You can get COUNTER compliant reports for text usage and Google Analytics reports for IMF Data. Now, you can run these reports at your convenience in the IMF Administrator Module. Please contact customer service for your administrator module credentials.